2015 Q3 Petition Processing
August 24, 2015 5 Comments
Because we’d all like to see some upward-trending lines for a change today, here are charts showing EB-5 petition processing statistics for the first three quarters of FY2015. The third quarter stats are not official yet, but I calculated them from numbers verbally reported by IPO Chief Nicholas Colucci at last week’s stakeholder engagement. (UPDATE: now they are official, and posted here by USCIS here.) The improvement in I-526 processing volume is particularly significant and heartening.
We also learned from Mr. Colucci that I-924 submissions have spiked, with 252 receipts since the beginning of the fiscal year and about 55 filed in July alone.
The Q&A portion of the teleconference provided some interesting insights into the huge variation we see in processing times, with some approvals coming through in weeks and others dragging on for years. Julia Harrison admitted that a bunch of 2012 and 2013 cases had gotten out of order for various reasons, particularly in connection with the moves from the California Service Center and then between facilities in Washington D.C., and that USCIS was now prioritizing older cases that had fallen through the cracks. USCIS confirmed that they do have separate workflows for RC and non-RC cases, and that the direct EB-5 workflow has gotten much slower. This contradicts a rumor I’ve heard promoted that direct cases can expect faster processing than RC cases, but USCIS stated that they’re working hard to bridge the gap between the RC and direct workflows.
The chart of IPO processing times is not so pretty (and also not very informative, considering that the standard deviation seems to be 12 months), but here it is (based on times posted here).
EB-5 Updates 
Suzanne,thank you for the excellent articles and updates you continually produce. As an investor I find them very useful and its good to know you have your finger on the pulse.
Do you have any updated processing times for I-829s ? I cant seem to find them and I am currently in the process and awaiting.
USCIS posts average processing times here (https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do;jsessionid=bacXD1OC9RCyFagQNRyeu). Click on the IPO Processing Dates button. You should also be able to check your case status here: https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do. The I-829 petition volume chart that I put in my post shows that these petitions have been going slowly since the move to Washington DC, with just a couple hundred adjudicated each quarter. But USCIS has said in the past couple meetings that it’s working to get up to speed on I-829.
Thanks very much.
I-829 showing 14 months still but as you say hopefully they are getting up to speed !
Its not possible to track the I-829 by case . For some reason they are not being registered for updates.
Hi!
August end processing time numbers are now posted on the IPO site. I-526 has held steady. I-829 has regressed. I loved your charts. Can you please update them with the new numbers?
Thanks!
I put an update in my latest post https://blog.lucidtext.com/2015/10/19/i-924a-reminder-processing-times-new-rcs/. It would be nice to see more movement in these charts!